


Hero Or A Monster (And Nothing In Between)

by Doodsxd



Series: Humans, Heros, Monsters, And Everything In Between [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Billy Hargrove, BAMF Eleven | Jane Hopper, BAMF Jim, BAMF Joyce Byers, Billy Hargrove Being an Asshole, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Billy is soft, Dark, Derogatory Language, Domestic Violence, Dysfunctional Family, Fluff, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Happy Ending, Hurt Billy Hargrove, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, One Big Happy Family, Parental Jim "Chief" Hopper, Poetry, Protective Billy Hargrove, Secret Relationship, Smut, Steve Harrington Is a Mess, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Steve Harrington-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:28:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21762235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodsxd/pseuds/Doodsxd
Summary: Dating Billy Hargrove was no piece of cake.He was loud, angry, too fast, somewhat disgusting. He was a hard person to be around sometimes. His anxiety turned into aggression in 0.3 seconds.And yet.It wasn't like Steve was a walk in park, either.He talked without thinking -- actually, he did a lot of stuff without thinking. Which was not ideal. He also had abandonment issues a mile long because of his parents, was always around teenagers, and had some hardcore PTSD that was probably not easy to understand.So yeah.Getting together clearly didn't solve their problems.They were just not facing those problems alone anymore.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Series: Humans, Heros, Monsters, And Everything In Between [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1568416
Comments: 12
Kudos: 271





	Hero Or A Monster (And Nothing In Between)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aw marvel no (getoffmysheets)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/getoffmysheets/gifts), [LazyBaker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyBaker/gifts), [Tasha_FoxWine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tasha_FoxWine/gifts), [Valkiria99](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valkiria99/gifts).



> Has anyone noticed I cannot fucking stop writing?

HERO OR A MONSTER (AND NOTHING IN BETWEEN)

_by doodsxd_

_“what is more unfair_   
_than having to choose_   
_between being a monster_   
_or being a hero?_

_(-when you have to be both.)_

_when you learn that_   
_the road to hell_   
_is paved with more_   
_than just good intentions.”_

_m.a.w. - you are not head or tails; you are the coin_

Dating Billy Hargrove was no piece of cake. 

He was loud, angry, too fast, somewhat disgusting. He was a hard person to be around sometimes. His anxiety turned into aggression in 0.3 seconds. 

And yet. 

It wasn't like Steve was a walk in park, either. 

He talked without thinking -- actually, he did _a lot_ of stuff without thinking. Which was not ideal. He also had abandonment issues a mile long because of his parents, was always around teenagers, and had some hardcore PTSD that was probably not easy to understand. 

So yeah. 

Getting together clearly didn't solve their problems. 

They were just not facing those problems alone anymore. 

_______________________________________________________________

"Steve?" Billy's voice was slurred. Steve knew immediately that something was wrong. 

He ran down the stairs of his house and opened the door to a bloody and bruised Billy, who smelled of alcohol and cigarettes. Probably drank and smoked himself silly after the beating from his dad, and then decided to go to him for help. 

“Billy, what are you-?” He started to ask, but the other boy just entered, throwing himself at Steve’s couch. 

“Baby boy, I gotta tell you somethin’.” He had a hard time coordinating his limbs. “I gotta tell you- you’re a fag! You-” He stopped, gurgled, and threw up all over Steve’s floor. Then he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, and turned back to Steve. “Your hair is a fag, your walk is a fag, your car is a fag… _everything_ about you is so damn _faggot_ , Harrington.” 

Steve sighed. He couldn’t be bothered to care anymore. 

“Come on, Billy.” He handed the other boy a glass of water. “Drink this and go to sleep.”

“No, I gotta-” He did drink half the bottle in one go, though. “I gotta tell you that you’re a faggot. I gotta-”

Steve pushed him down on the couch, laying on his side so he wouldn’t choke on his own vomit during the night. Billy’s eyes were half-shut almost immediately.

“Yeah, Billy, I’m a faggot.” Steve sighed, covering him with the couch blanket. “SO are you, though.” 

Billy just mumbled something and went right to sleep, open mouth, chest up. 

And Steve went to his laundry room to get the stuff to clean puke from the floor. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

  
  


Billy had been riding him in the Camaro. 

It was like something out of a cheesy romance novel. The windows were steamed from them two sweating inside, Steve laying on the back seats with Billy sitting right over his hips, dick buried inside Billy’s ass. The other boy moved quickly despite the lack of room to stand, eyes shut while he chased his pleasure. 

Steve’s own pleasure always got the backseat when Billy was like this. Not because _Billy_ made so - Steve wasn’t even sure the other boy was aware of it - but because Steve always chose to focus on something else. Because Billy, like this, was a sight to see, rare and precious, and Steve wanted to capture everything with his eyes and commit to memory. 

Despite the scene, the sex, the filthy words they said to each other to get them going; despite the unholy scenario they painted when they were together like that, Billy looked like a goddamn archangel bouncing on Steve’s cock, willing to give him the world for a kiss. 

And Steve would gladly fall to his knees and worship Billy until the end of times. He would willingly grab sword and shield to fight and protect that softer, open side of Billy, a side that only came up when he let go of his walls. A side that only came up when he felt _safe_.

And there was little that Steve wanted more than to make him feel safe all the goddamn time.

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

That’s why it was no fucking surprise when he received the call. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Steve drove dazedly to the hospital. He didn’t remember hanging up the phone or getting into the car; he had no idea how he got there. When he woke up from his shocked state when the nurse told him she could only give information for family. 

He surprised himself by going from 0 to 60 in 0,3. Kinda like Billy. “The _fuck_ you can’t. You take me to him _right the fuck now_.”

“Sir, visitations are only for family for now. I cannot give you more information than that.” The woman insisted, but looked like she was a step away from calling security on him. 

Steve couldn’t care less. “You take me to him _right now_ or I’m _tearing this place down._ I will _sue_ you until you have no leg to stand on ever again-”

“Steve?” A female voice stopped him, making him turn. 

_Max_. 

“Where is he?” He asked her, a little bit too eagerly for the way she took a step back when he walked to her. 

“Whoa, are you talking about Billy?” Of all things, she was holding a juice box on her hands. “His dad is with him. He’s out of ICU and into the psych yard, but Neil’s trying to get him out as soon as he can.” She rolled her eyes. “Why are you here?” 

“Dustin called me.” He told her, not caring to conceal his desperation. “So he’s OK?” 

“Yeah, he is.” She slurped on her juice box. “I didn’t know you and Billy were friends now.” 

_Friends who suck each other’s dicks_ he almost said, but stopped himself. But his mind was already rolling other many scenarios. “How did he do it?” 

Max finally looked a little more somber. “Cut his wrists on the bathtub. My mom found him and called an ambulance.” 

It took all of Steve’s strength not to shut his eyes and start crying. _Fuck, Billy_. “And- and his dad is trying to get him out because…?” 

“He doesn’t wanna pay the bill.” She answered matter-of-factly. “He’s probably going to make Billy pay him back for it.” 

_Not to mention slap him around in punishment_ _for not succeeding on his attempt_. 

He got his hands on Max’s shoulders, lowering himself so he was on her level. “Max. Do you know my phone number by heart?” 

“Yes.” She looked puzzled. “What’s going on, Steve?”

“ _Listen to me._ ” He urged her, making her eyes widen. She nodded very slowly. “The _minute_ Billy’s being released from his room, you call me, OK?” She nodded again, but he squeezed her shoulders, as gently as he could manage with how nervous he was. “Promise me, Max. _Swear_ you’ll call me.” 

“Alright, Jeez.” She got out of his hold by rolling her shoulders. “I’ll call you.”

He handed her his card with work and personal numbers and a couple of quarters. “Here.”

“You’re really weird, Steve Harrington.” Maxine took it all and put it in her pocket nonetheless. 

Steve watched her go, feeling powerless like he never felt before. _Queer_ , he said to himself. _What I am is queer_. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

“Steve?” Her voice was hushed on the phone. He wondered who was listening to it. “I am _so_ sorry, they didn’t give me any time to call you at the hospital. We just got home, though, like three minutes ago.” 

It wasn’t ideal, but it was enough. “Thank you, Max.” 

She took a breath. It sounded frail. So unlike her. “Are you coming to get him?” 

Steve hung up. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

When he went out for a smoke at night, El was already waiting for him at the quarry. He helped her sit on the hood of his car and did the same, lighting up the cigarette. 

“I can do it.” She told him, clearly having just snooped around his brain. 

He didn’t find the strength to care about that right then. Felt like less effort than trying to explain. “I don’t wanna ask that of you.” He replied, smoke coming from his lips as he exhaled the words. 

“You thought about asking.” She pointed out. 

Steve nodded. “I did.” He admitted. “But I don’t wanna ask that of you. You should be able to do what _you_ want with your powers, not what others ask of you.”

She nodded, shoulders relaxing a little. “I know.” Her hand found his on the hood of the car. “And that’s why I wanna help.” Her eyes fell forward, on the water. “Neil Hargrove is a bad man.” El looked almost scared. “He is almost worse than Papa.” 

Steve got his free hand over her short hair, caressing it gently. “Yeah. Yeah he is.” He agreed. 

They sat there until Steve decided she should be sleeping. When they pulled on the Chief’s cabin, Hopper had been waiting for them at the front porch, a smoke between his lips, too. 

She hugged him goodnight and went right inside. “She left a note.” He showed Steve a drawing of him and her at the quarry. “She can’t spell yet, but I knew it was you because of the hair.” The cowlick she drew was really something.

“Thanks, Chief.” He said, at loss of what else to do. 

Hopper sighed. “Kid. I can see that you’re in trouble again. Different kind of trouble, maybe, but trouble nonetheless.” He put one of his heavy hands over Steve’s shoulders. “If you need my help, call me, alright?” 

_If the system didn’t get him,_ he told Billy once, _Hopper would kill him and hide the body_ . _I’d help him._

“Thanks.” He said, and wondered if El would keep a secret, or if she’d tell the Chief about Billy and his dad. Wondered why she had been snooping around _Billy’s_ head in the first place. 

He turned, and left, his head a litany of _pleasepleaseplease_ and _I can’t ask that of him_. 

Steve didn’t sleep an ink.

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Max called him once Neil was out of the house on a trip, to invite him over. Apparently, the other brats were already there. Susan was making them cookies; it was the smell that invited him in. 

They were all eating around Billy’s bed, magazines on the floor, juice and cookies around in dishes. And Billy in the middle of everything, a plate and a glass on his lap, both of his wrists wrapped up in gauze and probably stitched up underneath that. 

It was _surreal_. 

“What are you all doing here?” He asked them, frowning up a buch. What the fuck, really. 

“We decided to adopt him.” It’s Dustin who speaks first. 

“What?”

“Eleven asked us to come, since she can’t.” Mike popped in, looking a bit vexed by the whole situation, and yet incapable of telling El _no_. It was cute. 

He looked at Billy, who was very pointedly not looking at any of them. Apparently, he lost that argument too. 

“Want a cookie, Steve?” Lucas offered him. 

Steve did, indeed, want a cookie. 

He sat beside Lucas, right next to Billy’s bed, and got one from a plate. And while the kids discussed something that he couldn’t for the life of him pay attention to, his hand slowly slid over Billy’s on the bed. 

He saw as they noticed it, but they all kept quiet about it. There would probably be a lot of questions later, and there would probably be _hell_ to pay once they found out, but Steve trusted him. And Billy seemed to trust them, too; or Max, at least. He would, too, probably. She had one hell of a way with a bat. 

They munched on cookies and sipped on juice as if nothing had happened. But it didn’t feel like a denial of reality, it just felt like a comfort. 

And Steve was deeply thankful for those kids in his life, once again. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Billy hadn’t even taken the stitches from his arm yet, but he was back to school. He didn’t talk, barely ate, chain-smoked a lot, according to Dustin. 

“He eats the snickerdoodles I bring him, but that’s about it.” He told him at his new job at Melvald’s. “My mom thinks I’m stress-eating because of the amount I take each time.”

Steve just grunted, putting the box he was carrying down on the cart. 

“Can’t you do anything about it?” Dustin asked him, and it was… strange. His acceptance of everything. He didn’t _know_ , Steve hadn’t told any of them, but he knew they had theories. Most of them were probably spot on. 

“What could I do?” He asked. Not denying, not confirming. It was not _only_ his secret to tell. 

“Let El do her thing.” Dustin’s voice, mild as it was, sounded like a cathedral’s bell around him. 

Steve turned. “What?” 

“She… we pressed her, and she told us.” He explained. “Max cried for like an hour. Lucas was freaking out.” Dustin fiddled with his shirt, looking uncertain. “It explains a lot about Billy.” 

Steve nodded. Got another fucking box from the pile, carried to the cart. “It does.” 

“And Billy’s dad deserves it.” He insisted. “Whatever it is that El wants to do. She says she wouldn’t kill him, but would make him… non-functional, I assume by what she told is.” 

He hummed non-comitally. “It’s not our decision to make.” Was his answer. In the end, it really wasn’t. 

“Can’t you talk to him, though?” Dustin looked… small. It was so weird to see. “Even if Billy’s an asshole, I can’t just sit back and do nothing. Especially now that I know that his bruises don’t come from being an asshole and getting into fightins willingly.” 

Learning that the school bully had been abused by his father right unter the entire town’s noses was probably a tough pill for the boy to swallow. It was easier to hate monsters and demogorgons than it was to see all the shades of gray that made life what it was. 

“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.” Steve answered. He felt just as powerless as Dustin, though. But he could try. 

“Great!” He sounded a little bit more like his excited, dramatic self. It felt good to hear that. “Wear your red shirt! It brings out your eyes!” He yelled as he ran back to Lucas and Will, who had been waiting outside for him. 

Steve rolled his eyes and grabbed another box. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Billy was an asshole, but he wasn’t a _violent_ asshole, per se. 

Steve could see how it was natural to him, some things. He had a lot of energy, and was a little brash, and he _loved_ to tease. But a punch never came without a thought, to him, it was always something that seemed carefully planned, like he had to previously think what he _should_ be - in Neil’s twisted mind, most likely - to act according to that. 

Steve had also seen him fixing stuff; around his house even. He fixed his sink, his bike, his car. Steve had even seen him spend half an hour finding the nest from where a baby bird fell on Steve’s yard. It was almost ridiculous, sometimes.

All he needed to be the best of them all was to think that he was alone. That nobody was looking.

It was all just as ridiculous as how Steve’s heart fluttered when Billy smiled in his direction. 

Damn, he was _so fucked_. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

His wrists weren’t even stitch-free when Billy showed up at Steve’s house with a black eye. He didn’t even take the cigarette out of his mouth when he let Steve dab antiseptic to his bleeding eyebrow. 

“This has to stop.” Steve said, anger and fear boiling in desperation in his stomach. 

Billy smiled devilishly. Steve _knew_ he was going to deflect. “Worried ‘bout me, pretty boy?” 

“ _Yes_.” Steve didn’t bother denying or playing that game with him. He stopped. Shut his eyes, took a sigh. 

“Hey, baby boy,” Billy cupped his face with his hand. The stitches peeked at Steve, mocking him, from under the loose gauze. The fucker probably tied it himself just to avoid another fight with Neil about Susan or Max helping him with his _troubles_. “Don’t worry. I’ve had worse than this. I’m fine.”

That didn’t help matters, and Billy didn’t seem to understand that. “He’s going to end up _killing_ you, Billy.” Steve’s voice came out strangled. He was so tired. “If you don’t finish the job yourself.” 

“Nah, that ain’t gonna happen.” He leaned and kissed Steve, a sure way of getting that conversation to sidetrack. Just a brush of his lips and Steve still felt his cock twitch into his pants. 

“But what if it does?” Steve got away from him long enough to say. _What if you die. What about me._

“Then you go on, baby boy.” He pecked Steve’s lips gently. “You go on. Just like you should.” 

He pulled Steve to him and Steve went willingly. He saw why Billy had given up on life. He saw how he didn’t care anymore if he lived or died, if Neil was gonna beat him or not. He was deep, _deep_ in a hole, and Steve didn’t know what to do to get him out. 

“I don’t think I can.” He confessed against Billy’s chest, hoping his tears were going unnoticed. 

Billy answered by caressing Steve’s hair with one hand and holding his cigarette to blow his smoke with the other. 

Steve shut his eyes and tried to memorize the feeling of Billy’s heart beating under his hand. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Joyce Byers was _scary._

She was this little tiny woman, not strong at all; but there was a fierceness about her that made even the big tough chief Hopper pull his ears down and his tail between his legs in shame. 

“You _knew_ about this?” She was _furious_ , walking from one side to the other of Hopper’s small cabin. At first she caught Steve and Hopper smoking outside. She just banged the front door open and entered, making them both follow. Then she growled and gesticulated a lot, before going on a rant about how she heard from Will that Billy Hargrove tried to kill himself because he was being repeatedly beaten by his father. 

Hopper just lowered his head. 

“Oh my _God_ I am going to KILL you two.” She growled some more, turning her back to them. “How long?” 

Hopper shrugged. “It’s not like there’s anything we can _do_.” He told her. 

“What do you _mean_ ‘there is nothing we can do’?” She sounded outraged. “What about the boy’s mother?” 

“Dead.” Steve answered. 

“What about-about an aunt? Or-or a grandmother?”

Steve just shook his head meekly. 

She rubbed her forehead until it was red. 

“Jim,” She called him, making him snap his eyes up immediately. There was no fighting her when she was like this. “You get the paperwork ready and stay near your phone.” She grabbed her purse. 

“What are you going to do?” Hopper asked her, finally standing up, ready to stop her from doing something insane.

She steamrolled him as if it was the easiest thing on earth. “I am going to _fix_ this.” 

She left through the front door in a rush of air, a typhoon, ready to put everything to the ground to get what she wanted. 

Steve and Hopper just exchanged a look. 

Hopper groaned and got to his fridge, getting a beer. On a second thought, he got two, throwing one in Steve’s direction. 

They drank a couple of swings together. 

“I thought about killing him when I knew.” Steve announced, lookin at nothing. He knew he was jeopardizing himself there, but he had to get it out. He had to tell someone who would _understand_. 

“Yeah?” Jim asked, only. Looking at Steve placidly, but also like he was just seeing Steve for the first time. 

“Yeah.” Steve took another swing. “Get him on his way from work. He goes through the 46th every day.” 

“46th is pretty empty.” Hopper agreed. Just watching. “Could dunk him in the river after.”

“Nobody would ever know.” Steve agreed, finally looking at Hopper. Seeing there what he needed; a glimmer of recognition there. A reflection in the mirror. 

Jim rose his bottle in a silent toast, Steve did the same.

They drank on it. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

They were smoking and slurping on milkshakes outside the arcade while the kids played inside. 

“Joyce Byers knows.” Steve blurted before he lost the nerve. 

Billy put the cigarette away from his lips; looked at Steve. “About us?”

“Probably, too,” Steve answered. “But no. You and your dad.” 

Billy inhaled smoke, exhaled a cloud. “How?”

“She overheard Will talking on the radio about it with Mike.” Steve answered, trying to get something of Billy’s expression. Nothing. “Grilled him until he spilled the beans.”

“He never had a chance.” Billy nodded in agreement. Took a beat. “She trying to do anything about it?” He asked casually. Not that he had hope. He just looked mildly curious. 

“Yelled at me and Hopper for a while.” Steve shrugged. “Warned him to get the paperwork running and stay close to his phone. I think she’s planning something.” 

Billy nodded. Stood up, put his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. “Wanna come inside?” Steve looked confused, so Billy continued. “I wanna beat your ass at one game or another, baby boy.” 

That nickname. Steve could never say no to Billy when he called him that. He was just as stupid as Mike was when it came to El. 

“Sure.” Was Steve’s answer, stepping on his cigarette to step inside with Billy. Nobody really said anything, and only the kids looked. They also said nothing. 

They played seven rounds. Billy won them all. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

“Billy Hargrove?” A voice called him out. He had been walking with Steve when a neighbor - Mrs. Norris, Steve thought - ran after them. 

They both stopped, turning. “Need any help, Mrs. Norris?” Billy asked promptly. Apparently, he was one of those, too. 

“No, dear, thank you. I just got a call.” She looked serious and sorry, never a good combination. “It’s about your sister.” 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Steve hadn’t seen Billy this alive in a while. 

Even if it was on fire and anger, it was a welcome sight. 

Apparently, he wouldn’t fight for himself, but he would take Cerberus in one hand and Hades in the other for Max. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

The drive to the hospital was a rush, a daze. When they got inside, Steve found her first. Max was awake, but her eyes were puffy, face a little red. Susan was beside her, Neil on the other side. 

Her arm was broken.

“Max?” Billy asked her, rushing into the room. 

One look at her was all it took. Even Steve knew what happened. 

“Steve,” Billy said, never taking his eyes off of Max. “Call Joyce Byers. Tell her to meet me home in two hours.” 

Steve didn’t wait another word. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Billy had been eerily silent the whole ride home.

“I’ll be outside.” Steve told him as they got there, Neil’s car parked just in front of them. “I know you’re planning something. I’m not gonna try to stop you.” 

He put his hand over Billy’s hand, holding it. “But I want you to know that I am here.” 

“Get that bad from your trunk, baby boy.” He brought Steve’s hand to his lips and kissed it briefly. “We might need that.” 

Steve watched them go inside. He watched as Billy confronted Neil quietly. 

And then it got loud, and he could _hear_ it, too. 

“ _DID YOU BREAK HER FUCKING ARM?”_ Billy’s voice was _loud_ , and scary. He looked like a thunderstorm, like a wildfire, just waiting to burn everything down. 

“ _YOU DON’T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT, BOY!”_ Neil yelled back. 

Billy was having none of it. Something crashed. 

“ _I HAVE TAKEN WHAT YOU GAVE ME, DAD. YOU BEAT ME, YOU PUNCHED ME AND KICKED ME, AND I NEVER TOLD ANYBODY A THING.”_ Steve could see from the window, Billy pressing his father to the wall. He could see the glimmer of fear in Neil’s eyes. _“BUT YOU PUT THAT GIRL INTO THIS HOUSE AND TOLD ME THAT SHE IS MY SISTER. ‘RESPECT AND RESPONSIBILITY, YOU SAID.”_ His voice was dangerous. 

Mrs. Norris got out of her house and came to Steve’s car. She just exchanged a look with him, arms crossed. 

Apparently, more people wanted to witness that. 

_“YOU LIVE UNDERNEATH MY ROOF, BOY, YOU FUCKING SHUT YOUR MOUTH BEFORE I TEACH YOU HOW TO-”_

Billy punched Neil. Right in the face, twice. 

_“SHE IS MY SISTER. YOU SAID SO.”_ If Steve felt shivers on his spine from Billy’ voice from across the street, he wondered what the hell Neil was feeling right then. _“AND YOU CAN BEAT ME AROUND AS MUCH AS YOU WANT, GOD KNOWS YOU ALWAYS DO SO, BUT YOU’LL HAVE TO_ ** _KILL ME_** _IF YOU WANNA TOUCH HER AGAIN.”_ His face was really close to Neil’s, and _fuck_ if he didn’t look like a monster, or an avenging angel. Steve could never tell the difference. _“And good luck trying, because I may not fight back for myself, but I will_ ** _break you_** **_to pieces_** _for her. I’ll be damned if I let you do to anybody else what you did to my mother._ ”

Even from there, both Steve and Mrs. Norris could see Neil swallowing dry. Susan’s lower lip trembling even as she kept her head high. Max looking scared to death. 

Neil, in a desperate move, tried to throw a swing at Billy, who just threw him to the floor, no effort whatsoever. 

It was scary. It was amazing. 

Joyce arrived with Hopper then, both inside the police car. Mrs. Norris looked completely unimpressed by him. 

“What’s going on here? Steve, you said Billy asked me to meet him here?” Joyce got out from her car, looking confused. 

Steve just pointed at the Hargroves’ door, from which Susan and Max were emerging, bags on their shoulders. 

“Mrs. Byers, thank you for coming.” Billy walked right behind them. “Would you be so kind as to let Susan and Max stay a couple of nights with you? I’ll pay for everything.” 

Joyce wasn’t frowning anymore. “Sure thing. Hi.” She hugged Susan warmly, and then Max. 

“What the fuck is going on here?” Neil, face bruised, for a change, stumbled from the front door, his anger a clear thing on his face. Hopper was going to block him, but Steve stopped him with a hand to his chest. 

Billy stepped up instead, facing his old man for what it seemed to be the first time. “You crossed a line here, Neil.” His father’s name might as well be poison coming from his lips, something sucked and spat from a snake’s bite. “They aren’t staying with you after that.” 

“You have no right to-” Before he could backhand Billy, his son held his wrist, less than an inch from his face. 

“I thought I told you.” Billy repeated, and if he looked like a vengeful angel, his voice was holy fire. “ _You_ were the one to put that girl into that house and told me she is my sister. _You_ were the one who said I should take care of her. _Respect and responsibility._ ” Billy twisted his old man’s arm. Neil screamed. Nobody moved a finger. “This is how I take care of my family, _dad._ And you mess with them again, mark my words, _I am going to kill you_.” He pushed Neil back. “You didn’t raise a pussy for a son, remember?” 

Neil stayed down, at least for now. 

Joyce rushed both Susan and Max into her car. Billy turned to Hopper. 

“Chief.” He called out. Hopper just nodded his way. “Can you put one of your guys at Mrs. Byers’ house?”

“If you think I’m not going there personally, kid, you got another thing coming.” Hopper grunted, getting his radio out. 

“Thanks.” Billy’s smile was sincere. It broke Steve’s heart to see it, but in a good way. 

“Just doin’ my job, kid.” Hopper smiled back, which. Wow. 

Then Billy waked to Steve and got into his car. 

“Let’s get this show on the road, baby boy.” 

Steve got the car running and moved. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

That night, Billy fucked him silly.

It was raw, and a little painful, and it was hurried for a first time, but Steve couldn’t care. It was perfect, and he came twice, and it was _exactly_ what they needed. 

Right afterwards, when Billy was recovering his breath under Steve’s ear - _ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum_ \- Steve got his hand over Billy’s Saint Christopher’s medal. 

“Why did you do it?” He asked in a whisper. He didn’t need to explain what he was referring to. _Why did you try to kill yourself?_

“I’m a shield, baby boy,” Billy told him, caressing his hair gently. “If I have nothing worthy to protect, I don’t see a point in being alive.” 

Steve kissed Billy’s chest, curling up against him. 

It all made sense then. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

On the following day, Steve and Billy went to check on Susan and Max at Byers’. 

When they arrived, the house was already a rush of talking and breakfast making. Susan was as bad a cook as Joyce, so it was up for Nancy and Jonathan, who didn’t seem to mind it. 

Max, Will and El were already yapping around in Will’s room, and they could hear the other boys’ voices through the radio, which was on as Max recounted the events of the previous night. 

“-and he then he _punched_ Neil in the face, twice!” She was talking like she did when she saw an exciting hero movie. There were collective cheerings and _whoas_ from the radio. 

“It’s good.” El was smiling as she turned to see Billy and Steve through the open door. “That he faced the monster.” 

Then Max saw him and jumped. “BILLY!” She wrapped her arms, even the broken one, around his waist. Steve saw Billy’s surprise, and then his softness, as he put his arms back around her. 

“You OK, Mad Max?” He asked. 

She was grinning like the spitfire she was. “Thanks to you, yeah.” 

Steve just watched as Susan interrupted them. Billy turned, just as surprised as before, when the woman hugged him and started to sob. 

“ _Thank you, thank you, thank you_ ,” Came a litany from her lips, and Billy shook his head, hands soothing her back. 

“Hey, it’s OK.” He told her over and over. “It’s fine. No big deal.”

“It _was_ a big deal, kid.” Hopper intervened. He obviously had a soft spot for Billy. “You stood up to your dad and protected your sister. I’ve seen more coward man calling themselves officers and soldiers.” He put a hand on Billy’s shoulder. “You need, you call me, kid. Anytime.” 

The Chief turned around and walked to Steve, putting his hand on Steve’s shoulders, this time. “When El told me ‘bout you and him, I was kinda wondering why. Now I know.” He chuckled. “You sure know how to pick ‘em, kid.” 

Steve didn’t have it in his heart to deny or pretend anything. His heart was too full of truth.

So he just smiled. “Yes I do, Hop.” He eyed Billy, one arm around Max, the other around Susan. “Yes I do.” 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

If Billy was a shield, El was a sword. 

And Steve?

Steve was a fucking bat filled with nails. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

The court officer came to get Billy up on a Tuesday. 

“While Mrs. Hargrove and her daughter are not blood-related to Mr. Hargrove - meaning that they can leave, as long as Mrs. Hargrove wants to - Billy Hargrove is still a minor, and, therefore, cannot leave his father’s house unless he is emancipated.” She explained to Steve when he tried to fight her. 

Hopper’s jaw was working _hard_ , and he had to hold El back with both arms. 

Billy just threw a smile at them, as if it wouldn’t just as well be his last. 

“I’m sorry.” The court officer told them, entering her car and driving away. 

One look at Hopper and he knew. 

He would have done it alone, but it was nice to have somebody by his side. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Neil Hargrove wasn’t a man of many friends. 

That was why nobody suspected anything when his car was found by the 46th upside down. He was dead when the cops arrived, but he smelled strongly of scotch, and there were no signs of anything but a car accident. So, car accident it was. 

Case closed. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________

Susan threw everything that was Neil’s away, and her and Maxine got back to the house. Billy was welcome there, yes, but he and Steve would rather have a place on their own. 

Hopper had also found out a life insurance from Billy’s mother to his name, to be his when he reached eighteen - two and a half months ago - and that didn’t hurt, either. She wasn’t rich, but it was enough. 

“Baby boy,” Billy kissed him on their eight month there, against a wall. They were both sweaty because summers in Hawkins were _hell_ , but it was fine. It was peachy. 

It was heaven. 

“Billy, stop being gross with your boyfriend and come here!” Maxine’s voice came from the kitchen. Her and El went in and out of their place as if it was _theirs_ , no fucking boundaries at all. 

Steve groaned in protest. Billy chuckled and kissed his forehead. 

They took a few minutes cooking off before joining the girls. “What’s it, Mad Max?” Billy asked, sitting in front of her. 

“Here.” She threw a bunch of envelopes on the table. 

Billy looked puzzled. “What’s that?” 

“Acceptance letters.” She was grinning at him. “From universities.” 

The young man looked between Max, El and Steve, still at loss. “I didn’t apply anywhere.”

“ _You_ didn’t.” She agreed, still with that eat-shitting grin on her face. “But I filled the applications for you. Paid for it with some of my money, but Hopper and Susan insisted to pitch in as well.” 

The envelopes were all open. Steve looked at them one by one, unwilling to see the letters inside. “And they are _all_ acceptance?” 

“Yup.” Maxine was smiling very proudly. “All of them. Billy looked like an asshole, but I had seen his grades. He’s almost a straight-A student, he’s the star on most sports.” She listed. “So… they all want him.” Max looked at Billy. “You just gotta choose where. Full scholarship.” 

Billy looked overwhelmed by it all. He looked at Steve, who hadn’t really gotten anywhere good. But Steve was _not_ concerned, and not because his parents had money, but because he could be a teacher anywhere, and a long-distance course was more than enough for that. 

El was the one to search around the pile, though. She looked them one by one until she found the MIT one. 

“It’s only a fourteen-hour drive from Indiana to Massachusetts.” She told him, a wide smile on her face. “And they have the best engineering program. So you can be paid to pull stuff apart and put them back together again. Like you like to do.” 

Billy looked at Steve, seeming uncertain. 

Steve just shrugged. “If that’s what you want, babe.”

Billy bit his lip, and then he smiled, and _fucking hell_. Steve was only human. 

“MIT it is, then.” Steve kissed Billy’s cheek. “Massachusetts, here we go.”

And when Billy kissed him, Steve wasn’t sure what either of them was. Hero, monster, it didn’t matter: between Billy’s arms, against Billy’s lips, he always felt holy. 

  
  


_______________________________________________________________


End file.
